Canada’s federal Minister of Industry, Allan Rock, held a public lecture followed by a brief question and answer period at Hart House on Nov. 12.
Rock discussed issues such as globalization, the public healthcare system and the anti-terrorist laws enacted by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11.
The minister was “not laying out answers” to the issues presented, but rather “starting a conversation” about how Canadians could go about “working toward consensus on what our strategic interests are, and what is the most effective way for protecting them.”
On globalization, the Minister said “we are not the only nation worried about these issues,” adding that “no nation in the world has not been affected by globalization.”
Rock also weighed in on free trade, saying that support for the initiative has actually risen since its inception more than 10 years ago, and what was once thought of as taboo is now mainstream. “Today, Canadians are prepared to look at foreign participation in our economy in a far more realistic light.
“From my parents’ vision, cultural sovereignty meant keeping out foreign capital.”
Canadians, Rock added, are becoming more confident in their political views and cultural identity.
“The most significant feature of the landscape of political opinion at the moment is an emergence of confidence in ourselves, that we are developing in this country tangible, recognizable features of identity as never before, a confidence that we are recognizing ourselves, finally, and that that identity will be preserved, notwithstanding what is happening in the world.”
Alluding to the now-infamous beer commercial, Rock noted that “we have a choice as Canadians…do we see ourselves as the swaggering ‘Joe Canadian,’ blazingly defining ourselves in terms of what we’re not?
“As much as we want to show solidarity with our allies, we want it to be done in a multilateral approach. From the International Criminal Court, land mines treaties, and Kyoto [accord] on planet change, we encourage multilateral responses, and do not like unilateral approaches.”
Photograph by Simon Turrnbull
